To Everything There Is A Season/Part 1
Empath's personal journal. This day is a sad day for Smurfette, for she has to deal with another pet of hers passing away, who has lived a full life and has been her companion for years since before this smurf has returned home for good from Psychelia. This smurf does not like having to deal with the death of close friends, but Papa Smurf and Tapper has told this smurf time and again that death is simply a natural part of life, and that all living things must eventually pass away, although Tapper promises that there will be a better life awaiting those who will put their faith in the Almighty when they die. While this smurf may not yet be ready to put my faith in an unseen deity -- and one that Hefty claims is imaginary -- this smurf will be there to help comfort this smurf's friends during the passing of their friends from this life. ----- It was a sunny day in the Smurf Village when Empath, Tapper, Duncan McSmurf, and Polaris Psyche were gathered together in the memorial park, standing over a new grave where a tombstone engraved with the likeness of Smurfette's pet was erected. The mood was somber as Tapper oversaw the memorial for the deceased pet. "O Lord God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, I pray that on this day of days that You would smurf comfort to our hearts in our time of loss with the promise that we will smurf our friends again in the new world that You have prepared for those who love You with all their heart," Tapper prayed. "Again, let us be reminded by the words of Your faithful servant Solomon: 'To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heavens: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to root up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.'" "Amen," Duncan said as the gathered Smurfs bowed their heads together in solemn reverence. "Thank you, Tapper, for those words that you have smurfed to me today," Smurfette said. "And thank you, Empath, Duncan, and Polaris, for being here with me in my time of sorrow. I don't know what I would smurf without you as I see another pet of mine being smurfed to rest." "It's always my pleasure and honor, my dear Smurfette," Tapper said. "There's no reason that you should endure the loss all by yoursmurf when you have other Smurfs who are willing to smurf the burden with you." "Are you sure there's nothing else any one of us can smurf for you, lassie?" Duncan asked politely. "I'll be all right, Duncan, thank you," Smurfette said. "I know now that death is just simply a part of life and that I must continue to live on and carry the memory of my pet mouse with me and cherish those moments of happiness that he smurfed me." "Well, if you need to have a new pet to replace the one you lost, Smurfette, I'm sure that I can smurf to Tracker to see if he can smurf you one, my dear Smurfette," Tapper said. "Until then, Duncan and me will smurf you some space for you to recover from your grief." "Uh, aye, lassie, that we will," Duncan said, realizing that it was his cue for him and Tapper to depart and allow Smurfette some time alone with Empath and Polaris. After Tapper and Duncan walked off, Polaris spoke. "This one would be curious to know how you came across having a pet of your own to take care of during the time before Empath had returned to the Smurf Village for good, Smurfette," he requested. "You don't have to tell the story if it makes you feel uncomfortable, Smurfette," Empath gently reminded her. "I feel that I'm comfortable enough to smurf it to whomever I want to, Empath," Smurfette said, trying not to sound ungrateful for Empath's suggestion. "Anyway, Polaris, it was about four years before Empath returned home when I smurfed across my first pet in the forest. Some of the details come from Narrator, but this is what I have personally remembered..." ----- As Smurfette began her story, Polaris saw her as she appeared about four years before Empath returned home for good, stepping out of her house and taking in a breath of the fresh air that came in from the forest, feeling happy that it was another beautiful day in the Smurf Village. At that moment, Tapper and Duncan were just passing by Smurfette's house. "Smurf o' the morning to you, my dear Smurfette," Tapper greeted. "Oh, hello there, Tapper, and hello there to you too, Duncan," Smurfette greeted back. "Isn't this just another lovely beautiful day?" "Aye, lassie, and there's no better place to smurf such a beautiful day than right here in the village," Duncan said. "So what do you plan on smurfing today, if you don't mind my asking, Smurfette?" Tapper asked. "Well, I plan on smurfing some lovely flowers from the forest that would smurf great for the tables around the village, Tapper," Smurfette answered. "I have no doubt that you would smurf such a great job smurfing the right kind of flowers, lassie," Duncan said. "Just be careful handling those thistles if you plan on smurfing some home with you from the forest." Smurfette giggled. "I'll try to smurf that in mind, Duncan. I'll see the both of you later." Tapper and Duncan watched as Smurfette walked off in the direction of the forest. "Every time I see Smurfette walk off in the forest by herself, I can't help but feel that I need to pray for her safety," Tapper commented. "You sure you don't need to pray for something else besides her safety, laddie?" Duncan asked. Tapper chuckled. "I know what you're thinking, Duncan. I also pray that my thoughts for her will always remain pure so that I will not dishonor her or the Almighty with improper thoughts that will lead to improper desires and actions." "But such a fine beauty like her, I don't know if I can keep myself from smurfing thoughts of being alone with her smurfing under my hat," Duncan said. "She can really smurf the fire of a proud Smurfsman just by her appearance alone." "The attraction of outer beauty toward a female is just what the Almighty intended, my fellow Duncan," Tapper said. "But there's more to a female than just the outer appearance that He desires the male to be attracted to." Just then, Hefty and Handy appeared. "So what's smurfing on with you two today?" Hefty asked. "We were just seeing Smurfette off into the forest where she will be smurfing some flowers to make the village beautiful with, my fellow Hefty," Tapper answered. "I hope that she would smurf herself safe while she smurfs off into the forest," Handy said. "With Gargamel around, who knows what kind of mischief she would smurf victim to when he smurfs a hold of her?" "Well, if Gargamel wants to smurf a hold of Smurfette, he's going to have to deal with me, because that will be the last thing he ever does if I ever smurf a hold of him," Hefty said. "You already smurfed that once about a year ago when you were smurfed into a giant with that magnifying mixture that Brainy had smurfed on you, laddie, and that certainly didn't smurf out well for you," Duncan said. "That's too bad for you, Hefty," Handy said. "Papa Smurf ended up having to smurf Azrael into a giant just to chase Gargamel far away from the village to save us that time." "So Gargamel smurfed the better of me that time when I was a big Smurf...so what?" Hefty said. "That's not going to happen again no matter what size I am." "I'll still be praying for you and whatever Smurf happens to smurf the unfortunate smurfumstance of running into the evil wizard sometime in the near future, my good Hefty," Tapper said. ----- "And so there I was in the forest, smurfing some flowers that I thought would look good in the village and singing the Smurf song to myself, when I heard a squeaking nearby and I got curious as to what it was and where it was smurfing from," Smurfette said. And Empath and Polaris saw at that point Smurfette in the forest, doing the very thing she had mentioned in her story, when she heard that very same squeaking sound. "What's that?" she asked herself as her attention was turned away from the flowers she had collected. She headed in the direction of the sound and pushed through some tall grasses to see for herself. There on the ground was a small brown mouse with its tongue hanging out of its mouth, looking like it was sick or exhausted. "Oh, what a cute little mousie," Smurfette said as she looked at the creature lying in front of her. The mouse looked at Smurfette when it heard her talk and started to run off, seemingly a bit scared by her presence. "Wait! Come back! I won't hurt you!" Smurfette called out as she watched the mouse run off. It ran as far as it could before eventually collapsing. "Oh my, you're sick," Smurfette moaned as she caught up to where she saw the mouse collapse. She could see beads of sweat dripping from its head. "Don't worry, little mousie, I will smurf care of you," she said, gently picking up the mouse and petting its head. "Papa Smurf will know how to make you better." As Smurfette carried the mouse back to the village, she ran into Tracker. "My dear, where have you smurfed that little creature?" he asked rather concernedly. "I smurfed him out into the forest, looking like he was sick or something," Smurfette answered. "I'm hoping that Papa Smurf will know how to make him feel better." "Just be careful with handling a creature from the wild like that, my dear," Tracker warned. "You don't know what kind of diseases it may be carrying." "Oh, Tracker, this mousie isn't even able to harm a fly," Smurfette said, sounding a bit offended by the idea Tracker was suggesting. She turned her attention to the mouse. "Oh, don't you worry about him. He's just trying to look out for me and the other Smurfs, but I just know you're not going to harm me, aren't you?" Tracker just simply stared at Smurfette in wonder as she headed into the village with the mouse. ----- Smurfette brought the mouse into her house, where she laid it inside her flower basket with some soft grass to make the creature more comfortable. A few Smurfs who noticed Smurfette bringing the mouse into the village gathered inside her house to examine the creature for themselves. Hefty stood around the basket with Brainy and Clumsy and leaned forward to get a closer look at the mouse. "Gee, Smurfette, the little guy doesn't smurf too good," he said. "Papa Smurf will know what to do, Hefty," Smurfette said. "Clumsy, will you please get him for me?" "Uh, sure, Smurfette," Clumsy said before he headed for the door. "Well, from my expert opinion of the subject, I'd say that this little mouse isn't too far from smurfing on his last legs in this world," Brainy said. "I don't know how long he would live even if we smurfed anything to help him." "What matters is that we are going to help him, Brainy," Smurfette said. "And if Papa Smurf can help him smurf back to health, I'd like him to smurf with me as a pet." "You, Smurfette, have a mouse as a pet?" Brainy said, sounding a little shocked. "Surely there are better animals in the forest than a mouse for you to smurf as a pet if you truly wanted one." "I don't see anything wrong with Smurfette having a mouse for a pet, Brainy," Hefty said. "If the little guy can make her happy as a pet, who are we to smurf otherwise? Besides, what trouble could a mouse smurf unto us?" "If Papa Smurf says that I can keep him as a pet, Brainy Smurf, then that's what I'm going to smurf, and that's final," Smurfette said. Brainy snorted. "Fine, Smurfette, have it your way. It's not like I have anything important to say that could protect you or others in this village from this creature that you need to listen to." Soon Papa Smurf entered the house. "What smurfs to be the problem here, Smurfette?" he asked. "Oh, Papa Smurf, I found this little mouse out in the forest sick, and I didn't know what to do, so I smurfed him home with me," Smurfette answered. "Can you help him?" "I'll see what I can do, Smurfette," Papa Smurf answered. He leaned over and lifted one of the mouse's eyelids open to examine its eye. "Hmmm...I honestly don't know what's wrong with the little fellow, but I will prepare for him an herbal broth. It certainly can't hurt to try something." "Oh, thank you, Papa Smurf," Smurfette said, sounding pleased. "Are you sure there isn't anything that I can smurf to help you, Papa Smurf?" Brainy asked. "Surely with my expertise in animal care, I can..." "I'm pretty sure that I can handle this on my own, Brainy," Papa Smurf answered. "Now let me be so I can prepare the broth and hopefully smurf the little mouse back on his feet again." Brainy sighed. "Yes, Papa Smurf." ----- Later on, most of the Smurfs were gathered inside Tapper's Tavern, enjoying a night of relaxing with their favorite drinks or playing games with each other. Duncan was sitting at the counter keeping Tapper company throughout the whole night, talking about whatever was on their minds. "It's been terribly quiet around here without Smurfette, laddie," Duncan said as he took a sip of his sarsaparilla ale. "What do you suppose she's smurfing on a night like this?" "From what I smurfed, my fellow Duncan, Smurfette is smurfing care of a sick little mouse that Tracker and some others said she found in the forest today," Tapper answered. "A sick little mouse?" Duncan said. "Well, that surely explains it. I could only wish to have smurfed the creature for myself. Maybe it will turn out to be a good pet for the fair lassie." "Who knows if that will smurf out to be the case, Duncan?" Tapper said. "For all we know, the mouse probably has family out in the forest and that it needs to return to them as soon as possible." "Well, she's got her hands full taking care of him, so I'm not going to bother her tonight about it," Duncan said. "It makes me wonder how good I would be as an owner of a pet should I ever decide to smurf one of my own." "Proverbs say that the righteous person regards the soul of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel," Tapper said. "Knowing from what I have smurfed of you, I would say that you have what it smurfs to be a good master of a pet." "As long as it isn't another baby dragon like the one that was smurfing after the glowberries that we needed to smurf the invisibility formula," Duncan said. Tapper chuckled. "I would have to agree with you about that, my friend." Just then, Hefty came up to the counter with his empty glass. "Care for another glass of Vita-Juice before you smurf in for the night, my fellow Hefty?" Tapper asked as he received the glass. "Just one more, Tapper," Hefty said. "I'm feeling really concerned for Smurfette tonight, because of that mouse she smurfed into the village and smurfing care of." "You're concerned that the mouse might not make it through the night and that Smurfette might be upset if it died?" Tapper asked. "That's what I'm feeling," Hefty answered. "We have smurfed our share of creatures dying in the forest, but Smurfette has only smurfed with us for a year, and I'm not sure that she's prepared to deal with that." "Death is an eventuality that we all must face smurfer or later, Hefty," Tapper said. "We can't shield her forever from discovering that fact. All we can do is help her overcome whatever grief she may be feeling and let the process of grieving smurf its course so that she can find the strength to live on past it." "I just hope that she doesn't have to find out that cold hard fact tonight of all nights, laddies," Duncan said. "It couldn't hurt for Smurfette and her mouse friend to have a little spiritual protection for the night," Tapper said. "Yeah, sure, like your imaginary God really cares for animals," Hefty scoffed. "The Almighty created all living beings for His personal pleasure and for that of His prized creation, the humans," Tapper said. "His only begotten Son says that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Heavenly Father knowing about it." "I wouldn't argue about it if I were you, Hefty, because it just might be the last thing you'll try to argue yourself against," Duncan warned. ----- Inside her house, Smurfette was tending to her mouse's medical needs. "Here, little mousie, have some more of Papa Smurf's broth," she said, feeding it spoonful by spoonful, making very sure that the creature ate all that it could of it. The mouse seemed very grateful as it swallowed every spoonful of the broth while it continued to lay inside the basket that was made into his bed. Smurfette saw that the mouse ate all of the broth, so it was now time to make her friend comfortable enough to go to sleep. She went over on top of her bed, leaned over, and grabbed the handle of the basket, gently rocking it back and forth in front of the footboard of the bed. "Rock-a-bye, little mousie, sleep for a spell, and when you wake up, you'll smurf all well," Smurfette sang to the mouse, watching as the creature slowly drifted to sleep. When she saw that the mouse was fast asleep, she yawned, blew out the candle in her bedroom, then drifted off on top of her mattress, feeling that she has done all that she could to help the little mouse recover. "I didn't know how long that I smurfed asleep all that night," Smurfette said to Empath and Polaris who were listening to her story, "but I could feel the presence of peace smurfing in my house like that of an angel smurfing in my house to relieve all my fears. Fortunately I didn't have anything to worry about, for I soon would be awakened by the presence of what would become my first pet." As Smurfette's story continued, Empath and Polaris saw her mouse awaken in the middle of the night and start stirring and making noise. Smurfette thought that she must be hearing things in her sleep, imagining that her mouse had awakened in her dreams. Then the mouse climbed up onto her bed and started squeaking close to her ears as it can. That made Smurfette awaken to see for herself. "Oh!" Smurfette exclaimed, a bit startled until she realized who it was. "Oh, you're all better. You sure do make funny squeaky noises, though. In fact, that's what I think I'll call you from now on...Squeaky." The mouse seemed pleased as Smurfette held it close to her. Smurf to Part 2 Category:Empath the Luckiest Smurf stories Category:To Everything There Is A Season chapters